Trouble With Godfathers
by LilyEvansDouble
Summary: Sequel to Trouble with Polyjuice. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione took the Polyjuice potion in 2nd year, Hermione's wasn't the only one that went wrong. The potion lifted a glamour that Lily had placed on Harry to hide the fact that he is actually Severus Snape's son. With second year out of the way, are father and son ready to face more life changing secrets? WARNING: OC's.
1. Revenge

**Author's Note: Hello good readers! As requested, I have been working on a sequel, and I've finally gotten the first chapter written. This is a** **SEQUEL,** **so it would be in your best interest to read Trouble With Polyjuice before diving into this one. Unfortunately, I still have a life so I'm not sure how often you will be able to expect updates. I will tell you that I'm excited to explore this story line with Sirius and Remus coming into the picture though.**

 **Summary – When Harry, Ron, and Hermione took the Polyjuice potion in 2** **nd** **year, Hermione's wasn't the only one that went wrong. The potion lifted a glamour that Lily had placed on Harry to hide the fact that he is actually Severus Snape's son. With second year out of the way, father and son now have to face a mass murdered that also played a key part in Harry's past.**

Chapter 1: Revenge

Harry braced himself as he stepped across the barrier to platform 9 ¾. He had talked this over thoroughly with his dad and knew he'd be perfectly safe, but he still wasn't very sure about it. This was going to be a very torturous first day. The only reason that he was going along with this crazy plan was because it was going to be extremely worth it. Of that he was entirely certain.

The Dursleys had no idea about Harry's new identity as a Snape. They hadn't expected him home at Christmas or Easter, and Harry hadn't been bothered to write them the first year and a half he was away, so found he hadn't had the undying desire to do so in the last six months either. Because of that, the Dursleys were still under the impression that Harry was an orphan they were forced to take in out of the goodness of their hearts despite the burden it put on their limited resources.

As the summer holidays approached, Severus had come up with a plan. He hadn't forgotten about what those vile Neanderthals had done to his son and he wasn't the Head of Slytherin house for nothing. He was going to get payback for Harry, and he was going to enjoy it every step of the way.

In the muggle world Hogwarts was known as Kilgraston. A prestigious but mysterious boarding school near Perth that you had to be personally invited to attend. It was all true since nobody actually applied to Hogwarts unless they were in the boundaries for a different magical school, and the wards kept it so hidden and protected that the muggles didn't go looking for it. There was even a member of the Hogwarts School Board in charge of making sure it was believed that the private school was running smoothly and met all the necessary credentials to satisfy the Scottish Education Department. All official Hogwarts mail was charmed so that if a muggle that didn't know about magic picked it up, it would seem as if it was from Kilgraston. That was why Minerva always hand delivered the muggle born letters. It wouldn't do for a muggle born's parents to believe their child was crazy claiming they had received a letter from a magical school when all they read was that said child had been chosen for the prestigious Kilgraston. This muggle alibi was just perfect for Severus's plans.

*~*~*The Trouble with Godfathers*~*~*

Harry had an entire entourage as he crossed the barrier that separated the magical barrier from the muggle world. Hermione, Ron, Neville, Sapphire, Tracy, and Theo had put aside their differences enough to be able to spend the train ride to the summer holidays together so they could all spend it with Harry. Now they surrounded him like some kind of security detail and Harry couldn't help but grin. He'd gone from being avoided by all of the children, on threat of Dudley's gang, to having lots of friends willing to surround him in protection despite school house differences.

The group quickly spotted Vernon Dursley. Ron and Hermione were the only ones that had previously met him, but his bulk and a scowl to rival Snape's wasn't hard to miss. "Are you sure you're going to be alright Harry?" Hermione all but whispered in his ear as the man's glower increased upon spotting his nephew.

"If that's who you're trading in for Snape I don't blame you," Neville whispered with wide eyes and Sapphire couldn't help a small giggle. She had recently dealt just slightly with her Head of House's displeasure so could sympathize with the most timid of the group a little bit.

"Don't worry Hermione," Harry replied bravely straightening himself up as he carefully looked past his uncle to the dour man standing ten feet behind him. "I'm not even going to have to be alone with him."

"Somehow, I don't find that very reassuring," Ron muttered. Harry chose to ignore him, but Hermione gave his arm a quick pinch at the same time Tracy stepped on the back of his trainer and Theo put one foot in his path effectively making the redhead go sprawling. The timing caused both Tracy and Theo to snicker even as Ron scowled at them.

"You _do_ know that Professor Snape helped save Ginny, right?" Hermione asked. She had spent quite a bit of time with the Hogwarts Potions Master the second term and, while it hadn't exactly been fun, she seemed to have a lot more respect for the man than previously.

"Yeah, yeah," Ron grumbled under his breath. He was thankful his sister was fine, but that didn't mean he had to like the snarky bastard. Potions was still going to be the most hellacious class for the next 3 years. He was entirely sure that you wouldn't be able to convince him to take N.E.W.T. level potions if you offered him a million galleons. It just wouldn't be worth it.

As Harry and his security detail grew closer to Uncle Vernon he suddenly laughed and slapped Neville good-naturedly on the back; the man looked like he was ready to spit fire.

Having been well prepped beforehand to come up with a happy distraction if needed, Sapphire lit up like her namesake in the sun as if she had just had a brilliant idea. "We should all get together for a pool party sometime this summer! My mother does water spinning so we have a tournament sized swimming pool at the manor."

"Oh, I've heard of water spinning!" Hermione squealed with true enthusiasm. "It's supposed to be absolutely beautiful."

Harry didn't get to hear any more about it however because they had reached Uncle Vernon. "Don't think that having people take pity on you at that freak school of yours makes you anymore important around _my_ house _boy._ " The last word that came out was said with such hatred that Harry had to physically repress a shiver. The emphasis on it being _'his'_ house also hadn't been lost on him. He forced himself not to react however, but instead forced out a radiant smile. "Good afternoon Uncle Vernon, these are some of my friends from school. This is Sapphire…"

"Just go to the car," the man snapped viciously as he cut his nephew off. Getting some weird looks from the muggles around him made him straighten again. "I'm sure you're tired and your aunt is anxious to see you after being at school all year." It wouldn't do for even people he didn't know to think him strange. Unraveling your entire life started with simple breadcrumbs like this, especially if you were the director of a business that met new faces every day. If he wasn't careful, he could also start slipping around the neighbors and that would be equally as disastrous. No, it was better to just pretend normal no matter the situation.

Severus was watching the entire scene unfold from his position 10 feet away. He was quite glad that Petunia hadn't come to collect the boy. It was almost certain that she would recognize him instantly and this was better for his plan. Not that it would really matter in the long run of course. Hearing the large man's latest statement however, the Hogwarts Potions Master took it as his cue to make his appearance. Dressed in black slacks, a thin black leather belt, black leather loafers, a dark green silk button shirt, a black neck tie, and a black sports jacket that he had conveniently left open, he looked the part of the formidable Science Professor from Kilgraston.

"Good afternoon, you must be Mr. Dursley." Severus's voice was smooth as he held out a hand and watched the man physically recoil before glancing nervously around and quickly shaking the offered hand.

He knew that he was enjoying this far too much, but his plans hadn't even begun. Harry had briefed him on everything he needed to know before the summer so that he could fine tune his plan. It wouldn't due for him to go into the battle with any blind spots. As a result, Severus knew perfectly well how the Dursley's felt about all things related to magic or 'abnormal' activities. A man Dursley didn't know approaching him while picking up his nephew from his 'abnormal' school was sure make the walrus uncomfortable.

Severus had heard the Hinton girl call it a 'tournament' sized pool rather than the standard 'Olympic' that muggles would expect and he could clearly imagine how unnerved it had made the man; even simply being stated in passing. The head of Slytherin wouldn't have be surprised if the sly little chit had done it on purpose if it wasn't for her limited knowledge of both the situation and the muggle world. While the Hinton family _was_ a little bit broader minded, they were also much too cautious to take on the term of blood traitor by frequent excursions outside of magical society. It didn't erase the fact however, that he desperately wished he could award her points.

"Th-that depends." Vernon Dursley fought valiantly to hide his nervousness, but the dour man before him had had practice in intimidation for 12 years now. "Who are you?"

"I am Professor Snape, your nephew's science teacher at Kilgraston." Another thing Harry had briefed him on was his relatives' dislike for reminders that he was related to them. Being so forewarned, Severus had had plenty of time to plan his wording. He was rewarded by the man's nauseated look as he glanced anxiously around once more at the relational word, but slightly surprised when he saw the man grow confused, and even slightly angry, at the mention of Kilgraston.

"I can assure you sir that this lunatic boy does not attend the prestigious Kilgraston." Vernon was starting to go purple in the face and Severus realized that the Dursleys hadn't cared enough to be familiar with the muggle name of the school. This was going to be even more fun than he had imagined. "He attends St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise at hearing such a statement and he looked like he wanted to respond but held himself back.

With a raised eyebrow, Severus straitened himself looking properly insulted as well as the previous intimidating. "While I admit that that would undoubtedly be a much better institute for Mr. Potter and I cannot fathom why Kilgraston continues to put up with his shenanigans, I can assure _you_ sir, that he has been a personal thorn in my side for two years now and I know where I teach."

Harry made a face at hearing Severus speak of him in such a way, and it wasn't all an act. The man was acting as he had before the Christmas events had come to pass and it still made him more than slightly shaky.

Vernon Dursley was obviously floundering at the conundrum before him. On the one hand, if this Professor Snape truly was the boy's teacher, then he was a wizard. On the other hand, he obviously didn't like the boy either. It wouldn't even be much of a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the man was clearly intent on speaking with him. "He is a trouble maker sir, and I can assure you that we will do the best that we can to rectify that before the end of the summer." With that he placed his large hand around the back of Harry's neck to begin directing him through the crowd toward the car. "Shouldn't even bother coming to pick you up," he muttered under his breath. "Don't think you're off the hook for what you pulled last summer either. At least you didn't bring the stupid pigeon this year. I see her around at all boy and I'll shoot her."

Severus pursed his lips as he followed Harry and Dursley. It was quite rude to have been ignored like that, but he also knew that it was the least of his worries. He was glad that Harry's little friends had all managed to find their own families and were now distracted with their own holiday meetups. "I am afraid Mr. Dursley," he pressed on smirking as the man stiffened at realizing he hadn't been shaken off after all, "that Mr. Potter got into a spot more trouble at school this year than normal."

"Don't you deal with things like that at the school?" the man snapped refusing to turn around or slow his pace despite Harry having to drag his heavy trunk. Severus quickly did a nonverbal feather weight charm on the trunk and the sudden change mixed with the pressure of his uncle's hand made the boy trip. "Get up you useless freak," the man snarled pulling the boy up by the collar of Harry's oversized dingy t-shirt."

Severus held his wand firmly and clenched his teeth while forcing himself to continue to look calm. It wouldn't due to curse the man now. He didn't have enough for his entire plan to fall into play.

"He's always very clumsy," he forced himself to sneer. "A total danger to the rest of the students around him is what I keep trying to tell the Headmaster. Of course, we deal with trouble when it comes up, but this is a little bit more. Mr. Potter finally forced the Headmaster's hand into placing him on probation at the school and standard procedure is to have one of the teachers do a home visit to discuss things with the student's family and decide if they should continue to attend Kilgraston or if expulsion is our best course of action. This is especially true when we hear absolutely nothing when we send letters home informing the family of the matter at the time of the misdeed. Mr. Potter has known about this for weeks. Did he not write you about my accompanying him home this evening?"

"No," Vernon snarled rounding on the boy who instinctively ducked and flinched away despite being in a very public place. "We haven't heard a word."

"The letter must have gotten lost in the post," Harry attempted to plead with wide eyes and the Potions Master had to admit that he looked genuinely scared.

"Somehow I…" Dursley started with big purple fists clenched.

"With your track record? I doubt it Potter," Severus cut in with a sneer, dark eyes flashing. "More like you didn't send it in hopes that this meeting would be delayed and you could have time to sweet talk your way into making your aunt and uncle believe you were the one seriously wronged here and that they should pamper and praise you rather than give you the whipping you richly deserve."

"No, I…" Harry began.

"Shut up," Uncle Vernon snarled pulling him close to his own nose. Harry's eyes widened in true fear. After Hagrid had arrived on his 11th birthday, the Dursley's had been too scared to do much of anything to Harry. The trend had continued in a relative pattern after he had returned from his first year at Hogwarts, but as soon as the ministry had sent the owl about his underage magic his protection had been shattered. Harry had received a rather good beating before being locked in his room. He'd had to hide his bruises from Ron for the last few weeks he had been at the burrow. It hadn't been terribly hard since he'd had four days to recover.

Severus watched all of this through narrowed eyes with his wand at the ready. As much as he wanted his plan to work, he wasn't willing to put his son at risk of being truly hurt. Pushed around a bit and verbally assaulted to no end was a must, but he wouldn't actually allow him to be hurt. That was why he had insisted Harry would never be left alone with the man. His plan would work just fine without anything new to add to the man's list of crimes. Finally, however, the walrus released the boy and continued walking through the parking lot.

"Can't this wait until another time Mr. Snape? This evening is already busy with picking this hooligan up, and we've only recently gotten our own son back as well." The man clearly thought that if he could ditch Snape now, he would be able to put him off indefinitely.

"I'm afraid the Headmaster wanted this matter dealt with as soon as possible Mr. Dursley," Severus intoned smoothly having to resist a small grin at the man's incredibly weak and foolish attempts to lose him. "I'd also like to enjoy the rest of my summer knowing that things have been squared away with Potter rather than have his triumphant return next fall loom over my head all summer."

"Oh, all right," Vernon finally agreed as he found his car. "Get in, but we won't be taking you anywhere afterwards. You'll have to use the bus."

*~*~*The Trouble with Godfathers*~*~*

Vernon Dursley was fuming. He wasn't entirely sure what game this man was playing claiming that Harry attended the best and most exclusive school in all of Brittan, but it made him uneasy. Then there was this talk of expulsion and the insistence that they talk immediately. While Vernon would be extremely pleased to see the boy heartbroken at being expelled, it would also mean having him underfoot constantly once more unless they personally forked out the money to send him somewhere else. It seemed as if, no matter which way he spun it, he was always left holding the wrong side of the coin.

If only he hadn't gotten saddled with the freak in the first place. Petunia hadn't told him the truth about her sister until after they had gotten married, explaining something about a secrecy law that forbid it. He also hadn't entirely believed her. There couldn't possibly be any such thing as magic. Her sister was just a freak show who had been sent away for the safety of the rest of the family. Then there had been the dinner with her sister.

Potter not only had absolutely no idea about normal people at all, but he had then proceeded to boast about his 'solid gold fortune.' He spoke about how he was the sole heir to a great mansion and had a bank vault filled with solid gold and his family had many powerful connections being one of the oldest families in their world and friends he could depend on no matter the circumstances. It had, obviously, all been a lie. Not only had no one else ever turned up to claim even the slightest bit of interest in the boy, but no magnificent fortune had been forth coming either. All he had ever seen was the stipend the government gave him for fostering the brat. If it hadn't been for that, Vernon wouldn't have tolerated the boy being in his home at all, no matter what Petunia said about protection. Since it was also the magical government that was paying for the boy and it didn't exist in the real world, Vernon had figured out how to get money from the standard British Government as well so he was being well paid for his trouble.

Maybe, if the brat were expelled from his freak school, it would mean he wouldn't be welcomed into freak society anymore. If that were to happen, would Vernon stop getting the money for caring for him? If that happened the family would lose a fourth of their income! They would also be back to caring for the boy full time and they wouldn't be able to just dump him in an orphanage because then they would lose another fourth when the British government stopped paying for him. While he could technically still support his family of 3 on his Grunnings income alone, they wouldn't be able to afford any of the luxuries they had been enjoying, like the cruise to Cancun he, Dudley, and Petunia had taken over the Easter Holiday. Maybe it would be best if he tried to keep the boy at that blasted freak school after all.

When the silent party arrived at Number 4 in Surrey Vernon Dursley had made up his mind. He was going to do his best to keep the boy from being expelled if it was even possible at this point. To do this, he figured that his best course of action was to assure the teacher that he would be properly punished this summer to discourage any future incidents. He would have to be careful not to raise suspicion about mistreatment however so it would also take a fair bit of acting and he'd have to figure out how to lead Petunia and Dudley into following his lead without explaining things verbally since they wouldn't have time with the man already here.

Getting out of his own door, Vernon walked around and opened the boot of the car and began to lift the heavy school trunk out. He saw the shocked look the boy gave him but decided to ignore it. "You're to take your stuff up to your room while I get Professor Snape situated in the sitting room. You're to drop your stuff off and join us immediately. No lollygagging, you're in enough trouble as it is by the sound of it."

With sweat pouring down his brow already, Vernon set the blasted trunk down on the drive way for Harry to take over and then began leading the way to his front door. While Harry followed giving Severus an apprehensive raise of his eyebrow. He wasn't sure what game his uncle was playing this time, but he knew that whatever it was he wouldn't have to suffer through it for long.

As soon as he opened the door, Vernon's booming voice returned. "Petunia my Pet, we have company! Could you bring tea into the sitting room and join us please?"

Severus eyed the man shrewdly. It felt remarkably like whiplash going from how the man acted at the station to how he was acting now after a silent car ride. He hadn't been able to make eye contact with him so hadn't been able to follow his thought process, but he knew that wherever it had led him it was bound to be interesting.

Harry made it back downstairs to the sitting room before Petunia arrived with the tea. At the glare from his dad he timidly took the seat farthest from him repeating to himself again and again that this wasn't real.

Petunia Dursley finally entered the sitting room with a smile plastered across her horse like face. She was used to having to entertain her husband's business clients on short notice, but this was no notice at all and he was supposed to have been out picking up the boy. What if the freaks watching the house noticed that the boy hadn't been picked up? What would the neighbors say if they saw they had made their nephew take the bus? How would it look seeing a snowy white owl on a bus? Would the boy be smart enough to keep his mouth shut?

All the questions swirling around in her head were immediately stopped upon seeing the man in her sitting room. It had been 17 years, but she doubted she would ever forget the horrid boy that had corrupted her sister and turned her against her. "You!" she snarled as her pretend smile dropped and the tea tray crashed to the floor shattering the set into a hundred pieces. "Get out of my house! You are not welcome here!"

"Good afternoon to you as well Tuney," Severus replied with a satisfied smirk. He knew Tuney's hatred for him was deep. She had taken full advantage of making fun of his clothes and family situation when they were children, constantly lording over his head how much better off the Evans family was. She also despised the name Tuney, and Severus wasn't sure if it was that name, his smirk, or his refusal to move that made the woman start picking up whatever she could find and chucking it at his head. Severus wasn't a master dueler for nothing however and easily used his wand to harmlessly divert the trinkets so they shattered against the wall or ground instead. "Now Tuney," he replied silkily while he enjoyed his son's shocked expression from the other side of the room, "that's no way to treat your guests. I know for a fact your mother taught you much better than this"

"You are not my guest, and don't you ever say anything about my mother you penniless street urchin!" The volume of the woman's screeching made Severus wince slightly. He'd always found her voice annoying as it was, but he knew very well that she had a set of vocal cords that would make soldiers in a battlefield run for cover.

Vernon on the other hand, had never seen this side of his complacent wife. He knew, of course, that she didn't like the freaks. She actually had history behind her hatred, but this Professor was dressed completely normal. He hadn't even gotten around to explaining who the man was and she was in a complete fit of rage he had never seen before. It was even more confusing to realize that the man thought this was funny. Deciding to intervene before things got even more out of hand, Vernon walked over to his wife. "Pet, let's calm down. This is Pro…."

Petunia wasn't ready to let Vernon intervene however, and she cut him off with another screech. "I know who he is Vernon! He's never been any better than curbside garbage and he ran around corrupting Lily from the time we were young children."

Vernon was more than slightly taken aback at this turn of events. If this man had truly been such great friends with his wife's sister, how was it possible he hated the boy enough to truly be talking expulsion? Upon realizing that it was a very high likelihood that he had been tricked, Vernon's face began to purple and he rose to his feet advancing toward the dark dressed man. "Listen here, we don't want no trouble from you and the rest of your freak society! We didn't ask for the boy in the first place, and we've done our best to provide food and shelter for him since he got dumped on our doorstep without anything more than a blasted letter threatening my family's safety if we refused him."

"Fortunately for you, your continued hospitality of my son is what we are here to discuss." Severus's voice was smooth and unafraid despite the large man so close that he was practically spitting in his face.

"Your son?" Petunia asked finally confused. "I don't know very much Snape, but I _do_ know that you hurt my sister. You hurt her so bad that she wouldn't speak about you after she came home when she was 16. I heard her crying in her room that entire summer. She didn't speak of you after that, and then she married Mr. High and Mighty Potter."

"How gracious of you to finally admit you don't know much Tuney," the dour Potions Master's tone dripped satisfaction at finally hearing the bossy girl say that phrase. "As usual, you prove that statement by continuing to run your mouth. While Lily _did_ marry James, things weren't always perfect on lover's lane and she wasn't perfect herself." It hurt to admit that even to himself, let alone out loud but it was something that had to be faced in this situation. "Lily came to me one night, and spent the rest of her life hiding the proof." At that he motioned to Harry still sitting across from him.

Petunia's eyes widened when she caught sight of her silent nephew for the first time this entire conversation. "What did you do to him? He didn't look like that when he left here last summer."

"Not that you would completely know how he looked when he left here since he did so in the middle of the night, but it wasn't me Tuney. Since James and I both have black hair and Harry got her eyes, Lily's brilliant charms work could do the rest to alter his true features so that nobody figured out who he really was. You see, she knew that not only would she be admitting to being unfaithful to her beloved and shockingly loyal husband, but I was a dangerous piece in the war that was going on. With how much she preferred to play it safe, she knew it would be far too risky to admit the truth, so she hid it. She even hid it from me. It wasn't until Harry and his friends came up with some hair brained scheme I can't imagine Lily would ever think her son capable of that everything was revealed."

Petunia found herself completely speechless as she tried to wrap her mind around everything before her. Lily had been extremely hurt by whatever Snape had done to her. Their parents had been so worried about their precious little girl that Petunia practically lived at Vernon's since she wasn't missed anyway.

"Wait," his gossipy wife might have been rendered speechless, but Vernon now had plenty of questions. "You said that you had to talk to us about the boy being expelled. Now you say that he's your son and you're here to talk to us about continuing to have custody of him. I demand you tell us what's really going on right now."

"You're not really going to be in any position to make demands for a very long time Dursley." For the first time since approaching the man, Severus finally allowed his tone to become what all Hogwarts students learned early to fear and it was beyond satisfying to see the man take a wide-eyed step back. Rising to his feet, Severus sneered at the fact that he was several inches taller than the man in front of him. He hadn't missed the fact that, even when he had been trying to be nice, he had yet to speak Harry's name. "Harry has had some very interesting stories to tell me about the care he's received from you all these years."

"The freak is a chronic liar!" Vernon snarled viciously finally getting over his initial fear of the man's change in demeanor.

"Oh, I agree that hearsay won't be enough," the Hogwarts Potions Master didn't bother looking at his so-called host as he walked out of the sitting room to the main hall and pulled out a standard muggle camera. "That's why I bothered coming all the way out here." He'd heard the telly blaring from the living room from the moment the front door had opened, but now he couldn't help a wince as he got closer to the shouting and gunshot sounds that would surely damage ear drums from across the room. For now, however, he chose to ignore it as he opened the little broom closet door under the stairs and nodded in satisfaction. "I see you aren't any smarter than you look Dursley. You moved him out almost two years ago, but you still haven't bothered to hide the evidence? It's sloppy, but from what I hear that's exactly how you roll."

With that he started taking pictures of the small cupboard that housed a thin, stained mattress with a thread-bare blanket. To make it better, Petunia had finally started using the space as it had been intended. On the shelf were several hazardous cleaning supplies, and on the floor, was a broom, mop, and mop bucket. Harry had told him exactly where he had carved 'Harry's Room' into the wood when he was 6 so he made sure to get a photo of that as well.

"You can't just come in here taking pictures," this time it was Petunia Dursley. "This is our home and we have the right to our privacy."

"Actually Tuney, I was graciously invited in by your wonderful husband," Severus ignored her as he continued into the living room. He took a photo of that wall in general that was littered with family photos of the Dursley parents and their fat son. There wasn't a single photo of a black-haired child at any point in time despite several pictures of the 'lovely' little family on expensive outings.

"That invitation has been revoked." Vernon grunted. "I demand you leave my house and once and I refuse to give consent for photos of my family and home to be taken or disclosed."

"As I told you before Dursley," Severus replied calmly as he switched off the telly, to the loud protest of the great lump of a boy shoveling ice cream into his mouth on the couch.

"I was watching that!" Dudley was ignored as Severus snapped a picture of him.

"You are not in a position to make demands right now."

"This is my private property and I insist that you remove yourself before I call the authorities." The man's face was a deep purple now but Severus still had his wand held in his hand so he didn't dare approach him.

"Please, call them," the dark-haired man motioned to the kitchen where the telephone was. "It will knock something off my list of things to do today and it is unfortunately quite exhaustive." He put his wand away, but out of his pocket drew a packet of papers. "You see, I have court orders for pictures of what Harry has already told our lawyer."

While her husband's face grew darker, Petunia's grew whiter as her eyes widened. They had already taken this to a lawyer? This was going to be bad.


	2. Straight Talk

**Author's Note: No, the update notice in your email was not an April fools joke, it's really here. It's short, it's really late, and I don't particularly like how it ended, but here it is. I'll save you my 500 RL excuses for being so long, but I'll continue to work on it. I want to get the next chapter up next weekend, but it might be two weekends. We'll see how it goes.**

 **Lily**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own HP, just playing around.**

Chapter 2 – Straight Talk

"Come on in Severus." The potions master didn't know why the headmaster even bothered to shut his door. Did he take some insane pleasure out of making the student body gossip about his 'psychic abilities' by knowing who was on the other side without opening it?

"Have a seat and take a lemon drop." The sweeping motion was meant to be warm and welcoming, but Severus was not in the mood. He old man had put this conversation off long enough, and he wasn't going to fall for any more delay tactics.

"What was it Albus?"

Albus Dumbledore sighed and removed his glasses wearily. "That's a loaded question Severus. I'm afraid that the answer is very delicate, and extremely dangerous. This is a strictly need to know basis and…"

"Let me make something extremely clear right now." Severus's voice was one that would have sent tremors through ay Hufflepuff student sitting before him. It was a voice the Headmaster was unfamiliar with himself, but this was a situation Severus was unfamiliar with. "Harry is my son. Long before I swore to you that I would protect him, but now this is beyond even that. If you plan on continuing to believe that Harry is some prophecy child, you will include me. Anything that concerns Harry, makes me need to know. You try to leave me out of anything or start playing games with his safety like last year, and I promise you right now that we will disappear, and you won't be able track us no matter how powerful you are. I'm a master spy. You know I can do it. I ask you now not to test me."

Albus Dumbledore looked every bit of his 110 years as he watched the man sat before him. Severus Snape had served him faithfully for almost 13 years now and had not once lied to him. Nobody knew his abilities more than Dumbledore himself, and he knew the man spoke the truth. "Alright Severus. I understand, and I'll meet your terms."

"Good. Now, the diary? How bad is it?"

Albus sighed once more and pulled the ruined leather diary out of his desk to set before his potions master. "I'm afraid it's pretty bad. I know you've been frustrated I wouldn't speak of it during the semester, but to be honest I was still doing some research to make sure of my ideas. If I'm correct, it explains why Voldemort didn't die the night he attacked the Potters."

Severus knew that he was well versed in the dark arts. It had made Lily uneasy from the beginning, but he had continued to pursue it deeper and deeper all through Hogwarts and had gone even further in its exploration while serving the Dark Lord. He also knew that his knowledge didn't hold a candle to that of his previous master.

"Have you ever heard of the term Horcrux Severus?" With everything in his being, the older wizard prayed the man across him would say no. He prayed desperately he wasn't that far tainted since this was something he wished he didn't know about himself.

As a master spy, Severus had long since learned to bury all visible emotion. Now, he schooled his face into a blank mask as he thought over the word to bring any recognition before curtly shaking his head once and responding, "I'm afraid not Headmaster."

With a breath of relief, Albus allowed himself a small smile. "Don't be afraid of not knowing something so dark I've removed all trace from the Hogwarts library. It was a hope that by removing it from the school, it could be erased from history all together, but I'm afraid it's not to be."

At this, Albus rose from his seat and turned to stare out his window to gaze upon the grounds. "You know that drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive at the price of living a cursed life. A horcrux is such a vile ritual that even a dementor won't touch you."

Severus licked his lips as he studied the man before him. There was something so dark that a dementor wouldn't even hurt you? A dementor itself was dark and could only be repelled by a powerful memory poured into a Patronus of radiant light.

"Voldemort was not destroyed that night. You've seen the evidence twice now, and I fear that there is more to come. I only wish I knew how much more there is to this terrible story. His body was destroyed. It was blown to pieces when the avada kedavra curse hit it but his soul remained on this earth." Albus continued to speak to the window while the man behind him listened silently. "In the horcrux ritual, you give death a soul by murdering another being, and in return, you split off a piece of your soul so that it lives on outside of your body. The piece of your soul that you have cut off needs a body however, so it is placed inside an object of the creators choosing. In this case, the soul's host was the diary. A horcrux is also extremely hard to destroy. It can only be done by destroying the object in which it is kept in a fashion that can't be fixed, even by magic."

Severus swallowed hard as he thought about all of this. The Dark Lord had often spoken of being undefeatable. This was what he had meant. As he mulled over the ways to destroy something even magic couldn't fix he found his throat was so dry that his voice came out dry and cracked. "Basilisk venom." It took years of skill to suppress the shudder that ran through him at the word because of how dangerous the stuff was. It was a highly coveted ingredient used in in extremely powerful and restricted potions.

"Oddly enough, that method is now much simpler than fiend fire." All it took was an eyebrow raise, that the old man didn't see, for him to turn around and walk to where he had hung the sword on his office wall. "The sword of Godric Gryffindor, made of the finest goblin made steel."

When the headmaster didn't go on, Severus finished the thought. "It absorbs what makes it stronger and Harry stabbed the basilisk through the mouth with it."

There was silence except for the whirring of the many instruments around the office for several minutes. As much as Severus had wanted to be able to talk and actually get answers, this much dark magic was more than he had feared, and he doubted they were done with the worst of it. For one, "Harry destroyed the diary." At this Severus physically picked up the leather book in front of him. "I watched him stab it, and I saw Riddle vanish. But he's not gone." Putting down the book, he pulled up the left sleeve of his robe to reveal the fade black mark on his forearm.

"No, I'm afraid he is still around somewhere." Albus gave a heavy sigh and sat back down at his desk. "For one, he still has the spirit form he used to impersonate Quirrell last year. I'm not sure how, but somehow a piece of his spirit remained even after his body was destroyed. But I fear there may also be more horcruxes."

"You think he made more than one?" Severus' couldn't quite mask the shock he felt at hearing this. He knew that the Dark Lord was a megalomaniac. This wasn't a surprise. The thing he had a hard time understanding was how the man managed to keep surprising him.

"You and Harry both stated that Tom was a young boy when he came out of the diary." It was Albus's turn to pick up the leather book and he slowly began turning the ink stained pages. "The soul takes on the age of when the horcrux ritual was performed. For the Tom in the book to be so young, he must have made his first horcrux before even leaving Hogwarts. To start that young, I'm afraid it would not surprise me for him to keep going. I just wish I knew how many of these there are."

"Not only how many, but also what they are hidden in, and where they are hidden." Severus found himself rubbing his eyes tiredly. It was the last day of term. He'd had dinner with Harry, and then instructed him that he had some business to attend to and left some instructions with the elves before returning for his long-awaited meeting with the headmaster. "If this was in Lucius's possession, the Dark Lord would have had to leave it for him before he disappeared. Did he give any to his other followers?"

"While it is not out of the realm of possibilities, we also must look at other hiding places covered with enchantments." Albus placed the diary down again and steepled his fingers as he looked seriously at his potions master sat before him. "Tom's biggest fear was his destruction. After this, I think that it is safe to say that he would stoop at nothing to assure success. Unfortunately, those are all the answers that I have right now. To delve any further I will need to do more research and investigation."

Severus gave a curt nod and rose from his seat. Before turning however, he looked directly at the man that had been a mentor for the past 11 years. "You will let me know what you discover?" It was phrased with a hint of a question, but he hoped that he'd made his point earlier. If Harry was involved, he was going to be involved as well or he would make good on his promise to disappear.

Albus rose to his feet as well, never breaking eye contact with the young man before him. "I will Severus. I give you my word. Although, I will beg you to have patience with me. I will tell you everything, but I ask that you let me make sure. Half baked theories of an old man can go extremely wrong and can do more harm than good."

Severus considered him for a moment. Was this a cryptic way of getting out of revealing things until it fit the old man's tidy little plan? Or was he honestly just wanting to save on stress and fear by making certain before speaking. "What do you mean by letting you make sure?"

"I'm an old man Severus." Albus spoke softly with the air of his age. "I'm not used to explaining everything out to someone, but I'm willing to give it a try. I'm not going to be perfect, and I don't want to cause alarm with false theories. Therefore, I want you to ask your questions, and I will honestly do my best to answer and not leave you in the dark. I beg you however to be patient with me as I find the answers for myself."

"Can you give me an example?" Severus still didn't trust the jaded response he was getting.

"Harry can speak to snakes."

This did nothing but confuse the man more. "Yes, he showed that particular skill off for the whole school quite awhile ago."

"It is not a skill that has been known for quite some time." Albus continued in perfect patience. "Does it not seem odd that it is now manifesting in a line it never has before when the last known person to possess such a talent was the dark lord the current speaker defeated?" Severus didn't respond. Instead he kept his gaze locked on the old man waiting for him to continue. "This is what I don't have an answer for. It is a situation that doesn't quite sit right in my mind, but I am still trying to pick it apart. Is it a natural born talent? Is it a reminiscence of that night? Was it a transfer of power from Tom to Harry? If so, how much power? I can't say anything for certain, but it is something I am studying and something I will do my best to keep you updated on."

Severus finally gave a small nod. "I understand." He didn't like it. He didn't like what the headmaster was hinting towards, but he knew that fretting about possibilities would get them nowhere but frustrated.


End file.
